MediaCom US CEO Sasha Savic Saw Opportunity in 2020

After nearly a decade as MediaCom's U.S. CEO, Sasha Savic faced the kind of challenges in 2020 for which no amount of experience can truly prepare you. Savic’s approach to guiding MediaCom through the pandemic centered on prioritizing and trusting in the agency’s people and working tirelessly as a partner for clients, all of which resulted, against all odds, in MediaCom's ninth consecutive year of growth under his leadership. Putting people first In the early days of the pandemic, Savic found himself wearing many hats and reaching out to each of the agency’s clients personally to ensure he was doing everything he could to support them. “For the first three months, I was junior media planner in the morning, strategy director during lunch and marketing partner for CEOs after dinner," Savic says. "The reason why we succeeded is that experienced people in the company played multiple roles. I had this feeling last year that I couldn’t let anyone down.” For instance, Signet Jewelers had to shut down its stores for several weeks around the onset of Covid-19 in the lead-up to Mother's Day, one of the brand's most important holidays. That promise of media moving into the addressable world actually happened, and we saw the big opportunity … to do new and different things.Sasha Savic, U.S. CEO, MediaCom "Sasha rolled up his sleeves and worked magic to cancel or defer the majority of our guaranteed TV buys and reconfigure our digital spend to be optimized for an online-only retailer," says Signet CEO Gina Drosos, calling the move a "critical enabler" of Signet's ability to grow year over year. But Savic refused to let his commitment to clients come at the expense of his employees. He made a commitment early on to protect jobs and avoid layoffs. MediaCom not only fulfilled that promise in the U.S., but the agency actually grew its workforce by 2.5% over the course of a year in which cuts across the industry were common. Savic also prioritized employee well-being with programs supporting physical and mental health and an enhanced commitment to DEI with initiatives that helped MediaCom become the only media agency in the U.S. to make the 2020 Diversity Best Practices Inclusion Index. Seeing the big opportunity Because of that investment in its employees, MediaCom had a pool of talent available to nurture always-on relationships with clients, something that didn't go unnoticed. “After a couple of months of the work and sacrifice we gave to clients, we started getting videos from clients sending support to teams with [appreciative] messages,” Savic says. By the end of the year, MediaCom had increased client satisfaction by 20% and added $300 million in organic revenue growth from existing accounts that included Uber consolidating its global account with the agency thanks in no small part to MediaCom's work for the ride-hailing service in the U.S. That idea that we have to succeed, we have to win, was there from day one of the pandemic.Sasha Savic, U.S. CEO, MediaCom Where others saw only challenges and disruption, Savic and MediaCom saw opportunities for advancement and evolution. The agency invested heavily in helping clients reimagine planning investments, build up ecommerce capabilities and engage with consumers directly, charting a path forward that should put the agency—and its clients—in a good position for 2021 and the years to come. “The industry probably changed more last year than it will change in five to 10 years,” Savic says. “That promise of media moving into the addressable world actually happened, and we saw the big opportunity for us there to do new and different things.” The need to win The pressure to win new business was a constant in 2020, and Savic felt the strain when he watched teams working tirelessly for prospective clients, especially when those sacrifices failed to win them new business. “The experience of seeing my people digging so deep, wanting so much to win … a couple of times, I turned the camera off because I was emotional and didn’t want clients to see me,” Savic admits. “That idea that we have to succeed, we have to win, was there from day one of the pandemic.” But MediaCom did win. Because of its deep bench of talent, Savic could lean on the wider network for pitches. He says over 200 employees participated in reviews over the course of the year. The approach helped put MediaCom at the top of COMvergence’s 2020 Media Agency New Business Barometer with $1.6 billion in new business revenue, including net new business revenue of $587 million in the U.S. Despite all of his successes at MediaCom, the contribution Savic is proudest of is at once less quantifiable and more lasting. “I managed to build a winning culture and make people believe everything is possible, that there’s no limits for us. When you see people go with that attitude into every client meeting, that makes me proud,” says Savic. “When you build a culture, that’s something that stays.” Savic’s commitment to staying connected runs deep. Even during a pandemic, he continued his practice of meeting every new employee. This degree of personal investment underscores Savic’s contributions to MediaCom’s culture and left him painfully aware of his own limitations in the face of personal tragedy. After the first several months of the pandemic, employees started losing loved ones. “It was difficult emotionally to give everyone support but stay strong on the other side and not to fall apart,” Savic says. Check out our full list of 2021 Media All-Stars here.

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MediaCom US CEO Sasha Savic Saw Opportunity in 2020 Where Others Saw Only Disruption

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